NYC Transit Union Calls Selective Strike

By ELIZABETH LeSURE

NEW YORK – New York City’s transit union called a selective strike against two private bus lines Friday, after a night of bargaining failed to produce a deal involving 33,000 subway and bus workers.

The union said the strike could eventually extend to the city’s entire public transit system, which carries nearly 7 million people daily on subways and buses.

"We tried to bargain with the MTA," said Roger Toussaint, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100. "We negotiated well past our contract deadline because we wanted to get a deal done and we still do."

About 50,000 riders are served by the two lines; the action covers about 750 workers.

The union says the private bus lines are not under the jurisdiction of the state law that prohibits a walkout. Public bus and subway workers could lose two days’ pay for every day of a strike. The city is asking for additional damages against individual workers: $25,000 for the first day of the walkout, doubling each day thereafter.

The union had threatened a full strike at 12:01 a.m., when the contract expired. A strike would paralyze the nation’s largest transit system at the height of the holiday season.

Toussaint said he was especially infuriated by the actions of MTA chairman Peter Kalikow during the final hours before the contract deadline, including his remarks that an arbitrator get involved in the dispute.

"That is an insult to transit workers and an insult to every person in this city who depends on our bus and subway system," Toussaint said.

Commuters were relieved to find the subways still running. Mayor Michael Bloomberg went to an emergency command center overnight to prepare for potential rush hour chaos. Commuters had been warned to car pool, walk or bike to work in the event of a strike. Some companies arranged van or ferry service for employees or suggested working from home.

"I didn’t sleep too well last night," said Mary Marino, who arrived at Penn Station to connect with two subway trains for her job at a Manhattan nursing home. "I kept turning on the TV to see if they had settled."

The private bus lines are in the process of being taken over by the transit agency. They serve areas mainly in Queens that have limited public transit options.

The city is implementing part of its contingency plan in the areas affected by the strike, said Jarrod Bernstein, an Office of Emergency Management spokesman. That means licensed commuter vans and other vehicles will pick up people who are losing bus service.

The union and the MTA negotiated for nearly six hours before breaking up around 4:30 a.m. In a new offer, the MTA offered a 9 percent raise over three years, an increase from its initial offer of 6 percent over 27 months.

The workers want 8 percent annual raises over three years and contend they should get a share of the MTA’s $1 billion surplus. And after the transit bombings in Madrid and London, they also want more terrorism training. Pensions and health care have also been sticking points.

A strike is illegal under state law. For every day workers are off the job, they face losing two days’ pay, and the city is asking for additional damages against individual workers.

The last time New York had a transit strike was 1980, when subways and buses sat motionless for 11 days. Tens of thousands of people mounted bicycles, walked and embraced creative modes of transportation like boats, private helicopters and roller skates.

Bruce Gilmore, of Queens, was hoping a strike could be avoided. He only makes $10 an hour, he said, and it would cost him $15 each way to take a cab and a commuter train.

"It’s a fair chunk of change," Gilmore said. "If I have to do that for a lengthy strike, there goes Christmas."